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Higher ed budget cuts hanging in balance

Rival Senate, House bills curtail state aid $21M to $59M

The House bill making state appropriations to higher education in Kansas clips $59 million that would be allocated to universities and community colleges — nearly three times savings sought by the Senate.

Differences narrow in the second year of budget bills pending in the 2013 Legislature, according to a report by the Kansas Board of Regents, with the House removing $15.5 million and the Senate chopping $13.1 million from higher education allocations.

"If that's my choice," Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, said Monday. "I like the Senate position on higher education. We know higher education is one of the engines of the economy."

The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said Board of Regents universities, including Kansas State University and The University of Kansas, need to embrace financial discipline.

"The regents budgets keep going up, not just with money from the state general fund, but also from other areas, such as tuition increases," said Rep. Marc Rhoades, a Newton Republican and budget chairman.

Budgets for higher education approved by the Republican-led Senate and House make different across-the-board reductions in the fiscal year starting July 1. The Senate voted to apply a 2 percent, or $15.2 million rollback. The House's 4 percent erosion in state spending would save the treasury $29.2 million.

In addition, the House adopted a series of adjustments related to compensation paid faculty and staff. Representatives voted to withhold $29 million linked to salary caps, longevity pay and job vacancies.

In January, Gov. Sam Brownback proposed funding for higher education remain flat but suggested $10 million to be allocated for construction planning of a building at KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. The funding was cut by House and Senate committees, but there may be a deal to replace that cash.

Senate and House negotiators are deadlocked on a series of budget conflicts, including the higher education provisions.

"We're sticking to the House position," Rhoades said. "They're sticking to their position."

House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, said he wasn't enthusiastic about proposals to delete millions of dollars in state aid to KU, Kansas State and other institutions.

"I see the dollars that the state puts into our universities and community colleges as an investment in the future of our state's economy," Davis said. "A lot of these funding cuts are going to have a direct correlation on our ability to grow in targeted areas."

Rhoades said he appreciated the contribution universities could make to advancing the state's economic interests.

"But," he said, "there needs to be accountability. I want a return on investment. It's great to conduct research, but I want to see that translate to jobs and a better economy for Kansas."

Tightening expenditures has been a priority of House and Senate leaders because tax dollars must be found to balance a budget losing significant revenue through income tax cuts signed into law by Brownback.

Under the House bill, Washburn University in Topeka would escape cuts in the upcoming fiscal year and receive $600,000 to begin preparation for construction of a KBI crime laboratory.

However, the House measure calls for reductions of $11.4 million at KU Medical Center, as well as $8.9 million at KU's main campus in Lawrence.

"if the proposed House budget cuts were enacted, it would cut higher education funding more than a decade," said Kathy Damron, a Statehouse lobbyist for KU. "Every student attending a public higher education institution in Kansas would feel consequences of that."